The present invention relates to locomotive headlights and more specifically to an LED type replacement headlight assembly that meets regulated light output requirements and still fits within a typical space allotted for a locomotive headlight.
LED lighting uses less energy than incandescent type lighting, is more robust, and typically LED light sources last far longer than incandescent type sources. For this reason LED type lights are advantageous in many applications including industrial applications where work has to be halted when a light source fails. One application in which work has to be stopped when a light source fails is the locomotive headlight application.
While LED locomotive headlights would be useful and will likely be used shortly in new locomotives, there are some difficulties that have to be overcome when trying to replace existing incandescent type locomotive headlights with LED type headlights. To this end, incandescent headlight design hasn't changed much over time and a typical incandescent headlight includes a large cone shaped reflector, a filament mounted in a cavity formed by the reflector, a 7 inch round lens over the cavity and some type of mechanical connector for securing the headlight into a cavity formed at the front end of a locomotive. Here, a standard headlight receiving cavity is approximately 7 inches round and has a depth only large enough to accommodate the headlight.
In addition to being size limited, federal transportation regulations require very specific light intensity and light pattern characteristics.